Meet my new loom!
After months of watching for used looms on Ravelry and always finding one that I liked too far away, I noticed a loom in Michigan that caught my eye on a second look.
The loom is a 22″ (weaving width) Harrisville Designs Jack loom with 8 shafts and 10 treadles and has a lot of great possibilities for expanding my weaving repertoire and really upping the design potential for my creations.
I had been planning on a new 8 shaft table loom and planning for one for the past several months. However, everyone that had a table loom that I spoke with on-line all had the same advice--get a floor loom with foot treadles. Most no longer had a table loom unless they were traveling and taking it to classes with them.
A new floor loom can be a huge investment and even with the table loom, I knew once I had the loom I’d need additional equipment to warp it and use it. Most new looms do not come with the warping tools needed, just the loom. The additional cost equipment costs made me hesitate and I kept looking.
Initially, I didn’t think we could: A. afford a floor loom or B. have enough space for one. A couple other folks told me that not all floor looms were huge space hogs and many (like this one) can bet folded up to conserve space when not being used. I kept watching the ads for both table and floor looms to see what would pop up in my price range.
When I found this little gem in Michigan, I had to do some negotiating with both my hubby first and then the seller. Things came together very quickly after that and we took a day trip to Kalamazoo to pick it up.
This little loom had been found by a fellow Ravel-er (I’m guessing that’s the proper term) and restored using new parts from Harrisville Designs.
I was impressed with the pictures and it seemed like such a good deal since it came with a bench, castle tray, warping board, warping tools including the raddle, several shuttles and bunch of odds and ends tools. All of which would have been additional costs on a new loom; for this one they were all included.
For about the same price as new table loom, I got everything I would need to start weaving on multiple shafts. It was just too good to pass up and we went for it.
So after our trip on Saturday, this morning I reconfigured my craft area and made room for the new loom. I also connected a few things that had been disconnected for travel. It is almost ready to weave. I need to level the shafts, tighten up any loose screws and then warp it up.
I cannot wait to start weaving on it--I’ve got a 4 shaft pattern selected and several potential color combinations....
Have any questions, just ask!
See what’s for sale: Etsy or TangledWebWeaving
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